Top 10 US Universities for Graduate Level

[cosmicfish]

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Indeed so, and this argument actually aligns neatly with my 4th point regarding the comparative admissions of the different schools.

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*Perhaps the most important factor is that Michigan simply admits far more students who are not particularly talented or motivated than does Harvard. Naturally, these students are probably not going to graduate in a timely fashion, and may not ever graduate at all. But that then just raises the question of why Michigan persists in admitting unmotivated, untalented students.

If there is any sense at all in the admissions process, of COURSE Harvard admits more talented and motivated students than Michigan! The problem is that the proportion of students who will graduate is only visible as a statistical distribution on the admissions parameters. That is to say, ~90% of those with scores that would get them into Harvard will graduate in 4 years, and ~70% of those with scores that will get them into Michigan will graduate in 4 years, but there is not necessarily any way to separate those WILL graduate vs those who will NOT based on admission criteria. If Harvard could identify the applications of the 2% who apparently never graduate, I think they would do so, and likewise for other schools. Until they figure out how to do so, the only way to get graduation rates like Harvard is to hold all students to that standard… which would mean never admitting most of the 70% who DO graduate from Michigan in 4 years.</p>

<p>Still, the rest of your reply (and, to be honest, most of my statements as well) are off topic for this thread. The OP is interested in graduate study, and these are predominantly undergraduate issues.</p>